The heart is basically a hollow, muscular, organ which is, in effect, a pump. It is divided into four chambers, the left and right ventricle, and the left and right atrium. The main pumping chamber of the heart is the left ventricle. It pumps blood through the aortic valve in the aorta to the various arteries and hence, to the rest of the body. The aortic valve is a one-way valve which permits blood to flow from the left ventricle but when functioning properly, closes to prevent blood from flowing in the opposite direction, i.e. back to the left ventricle.
The aortic valve comprises three leaflets or cusps, which during systole, i.e. the time the heart is contracting, open to permit the outward flow. During diastole, i.e. when the heart is relaxed, the aortic valve normally closes to prevent the reverse flow of blood, i.e. regurgitation from the aorta into the left ventricle. Patients which experience aortic regurgitation have, for any number of reasons, incompetence or partial malfunction of the aortic valve. As a result, during diastole, when the heart is itself in its most relaxed condition and the interior pressure is at the lowest, blood from the then pressurized arteries flows backward from the aorta through the aortic valve into the heart. This is because the leaflets are not in closed position leaving an open orifice in the aortic valve. Failure of the leaflets or cusps to close can be due to anatomic disruption of the leaflets or due to dilation of the aortic annulus.
It is an object of the present invention to prevent or reduce regurgitation of blood by improving the coaptation of the aortic valve leaflets during diastole without causing significant restriction during the systole, in other words restricting the inward flow of blood to the left ventricle by stenting or supporting the aortic valve without impeding outflow.